Vaughn's Summaries

Food Summaries
Omega 3 Oils

Fish Oil Supplements

by Vaughn Aubuchon

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What is the best kind of fish oil?
What kind of fish are used?
Which portions of the fish are used?
Where do the fish come from?
How is the oil extracted?

This fish oil analysis table lists the serving size, the EPA and DHA amounts in a "serving size", the ingredients in the ingredient list, country of origin, etc. I also list the "fish oil questions" that you may want to ask, provide my own comments, and offer some conclusions.

The following fish oil review summary chart lists some popular fish oils available in California. All are softgels capsules, unless otherwise noted.

Commercial Omega3 Health Supplements
The order of the containers above, from left-to-right,
corresponds to #1 through #10 below.

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     Fish Oils Table

 Brand
(alphabetical)

 Ingredients List

 1
21st Century
 60 @ 9.99
 Longs

Fish Body Oil, Gelatin, Glycerin, Purified Water, Refined Soybean Oil, Vitamin E d-Alpha Tocophenyl(?), Hypromellose, Macrogol, Cellacephate
No contact number.
Bottle has weird smell.

 2
Kirkland
 300 @ $6.99
 Costco

Fish Oil Concentrate,
Gelatin, Glycerin,
d-Alpha tocopherol, Water
Contact: (800) 428-7782

 3
Longs Drugs
 60 @ $5.99
 Longs

Fish oil concentrate,
Gelatin, Glycerin,
d-Sorbitol, d-Alpha tocopherol
Contact: 1 (800) TO-LONGS

 4
Nature Made
 180 @ $7.99
 Longs

Tuna oil concentrate,
Gelatin, Glycerin,
d-Alpha tocopherol, Water
Contact: (800) 276-2878

The bottle is CLEAR- no protection from ultraviolet degradation.

"MAY also contain" -
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate, triacetin, methacrylic acid copolymer, glyceryl monostearate, triethyl citrate, propylene glycol

"MAY ALSO CONTAIN"?
They don't know? They can't say?
To he|| with this! Nature Made?
Bottle has chemical smell!

Bottle has chemical smell

 5
Nature's Bounty
 130 @ $8.99
 Longs

(No ingredient list, per se.) Looks like -
"Marine Lipid Concentrate" plus Gelatin and Glycerin.
Contact: 1 (800) 433-2990

 6
Omega Care
 60 @ $6.99
 Longs

Fish Oil Concentrate, Gelatin, Glycerin, Methacrylic Acid Copolymer, Hypromellose Phthalate, Triacetin, Hypromellose, Titanium Dioxide, Propylene Glycol, Polyethelene Glycol, Glyceryl Monostearate, Triethyl Citrate, Povidone, Vanillin, d-Alpha Tocopherol, Talc, Polysorbate 80
Contact: 1 (800) 533-VITA

 7
Radiance
 100 @ $8.79
 Longs

(No ingredient list, per se.) Looks like -
"Fish oil" plus Gelatin and Glycerin.
No contact number.

 8
Safeway Select
 60 @ $6.59
 Safeway

Fish oil concentrate, Gelatin, Glycerin, d-Sorbitol, d-Alpha Tocopherol

Contact: 1 (888) SAFEWAY

 9
Spectrum
 60 @ $6.99
 Nob Hill

Marine Oils, (salmon, menhaden, cod, mackerel), Mixed tocopherols (non-genetically engineered, non-hexane extracted Vitamin E, gelatin, glycerin, water
Contact: 1 (800) 995-2705

Deep Arctic
Norway

 10
Twinlab
 50 @ $8.79
 Nob Hill

Omega-3 Fish Oil, Gelatin, Glycerin, Purified Water, Ascorbyl Palmitate, d-Alpha Tocopherol
No contact number.

Deep sea
cold water
Fish flesh

 Others

"Marine lipids"

120

30

40

40

40

40

240 - 720

70

100

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   Fish Oil Supplements
   Discussion

Nomenclature - Omega Fatty Acids
Omega 3 fatty acid = EPA = EicosaPentaenoic Acid (Typically, 18% concentration)
Omega 3 fatty acid = DHA = DocosaHexaenoic Acid (Typically, 12% concentration)
1g = 1000 mg. = 1000 milligrams

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Marketing Claims
The following words have no precise or even defined meaning in relation to fish oil products -
Best, extra-distilled, finest, high-potency, highest-quality, natural, super-distilled, pharmaceutical grade, professional grade, pure, purest, purified, ultra-pure. These are all marketing claims, and guarantee you nothing.

Marketing Obfuscation
"Marine lipids" is an absurd description. It is the ultimate avoidance of description.
But they have to say something.
Lipids simply means "fats".
Marine means that they come out of water, and are presumed to be fish of some type.
Therefore, your ingredients come from "fish fats", from unknown types of fish, from unknown waters. Great.

Can you see what I am getting at here? DISCLOSURE.
We want FULL disclosure, and we are getting NO DISCLOSURE.

Fish Oil Questions - That You May Want To Ask

1. What kind of "marine lipids" (fish fats) are used? From what kinds of "fatty fish" is the oil extracted?
...... Sardines and anchovies are preferred, but herring (mostly), salmon and tuna are also used.
...... If only "marine lipids" is stated, they really don't want to say, do they?

2. Where do the fish come from? Alaska? Norway? Deep ocean? Wild? Near shore? Farmed?
...... "Norway deep ocean" is reputedly the best - fewer heavy metals, dioxins, furans, and PCBs.
...... If they don't say, it's probably not well-regarded, or they WOULD SAY. Guess Pacific Ocean.

3. How is the oil extracted? Squeezed, centrifuged or solvent extraction? Whole body or fish scraps?
...... Kinda like olive oil - do you want virgin, or the remaining dregs?
...... If they don't say, were petrochemical solvents (hexane) used in the extraction process?
...... WHY wouldn't they say?
...... Because petrochemical solvents WERE used in the extraction process, that's why.

4. How refined is the oil? Is it molecularly distilled? Twice?
...... The terms extra-distilled, super-distilled, and hyper-distilled have no scientific definition.
...... Must the oil be "extra-distilled" because the fish source was so poor? Or so contaminated?

5. Is it "health-food grade", or "pharmaceutical grade"?
...... Are these terms defined anywhere? I don't think so. Neither is "high-potency".

6. Are contaminants such as mercury and pcbs certified absent? Are any maximum values given? Even mentioned at all?
...... Most make no mention - this is a huge issue. Fish from eastern Pacific waters contain elevated levels of mercury.
...... The state of California maintains official warnings about consuming fish from Pacific waters, in every grocery store.

Conclusions - Fish Oil Report

 The big problem with Fish Oil supplements is the lack of DISCLOSURE.
 Most manufacturers, as you can clearly see above, do not want to tell you very much.
...... The type of fish used are not disclosed, unless you pay a lot more.
...... The geographic area from which the fish come is not disclosed, unless you pay a lot more.
...... The manner of oil extraction is not disclosed - because they use hexane - a hydrocarbon solvent.
...... What is the level of residual solvent (RAE)? What interactions have occurred? What new compounds were left behind?
No motor oil with my fish oil, please.


1. Fish oil is plentiful.
2. The vast majority of fish oil comes from plentiful sources - which are not the best sources.
3. Fish farming is a plentiful source of fish oil - farmed fish oil sources are far worse than wild fish oil sources. Wild salmon eat fish, and have dark orange flesh, full of concentrated fish oil. Farmed salmon, on the other hand, are fed "commercial pellets", producing a fish whose flesh MUST BE DYED orange for market, because it is such a sickly grey color. Not to mention the massive doses of antibiotics that must be used for so many fish in such close quarters. Yummy.

A new "healthy fish oil" market is emerging, with the most successful vendors bending over backwards to open their kimonos, and make full disclosure. YES, you will pay a premium, and YES, you will be getting a superior product. I prefer it. How about you?

GET all the PROMISED BENEFITS without the HIDDEN DANGERS.

WHAT KIND of fish were used?
...... List ALL, not just some.
WHERE did they come from?
...... Farmed or wild, which ocean, which hemisphere?
HOW was the oil rendered?
...... Cold-pressed, centrifuged, or solvent extraction?
What PURITY CERTIFICATION is offered?
...... Mercury, lead, dioxins, furans, PCBs, oxidation, etc.
What is the FRESHNESS of the fish oil?
...... Is it oxidation (peroxide) tested?

"How safe are fish oil supplements?"

I propose a new Fish Oil Standard Label requirement. Here it is -

95% Fish Species :

xxxxx and xxxxx

From farmed fish ? :

Yes or No

Oil Extraction Method :

xxxxx

100% Whole Body Used ?:

Yes or No

Source Body of Water :

Ocean and hemisphere

Encapsulated
at the source ? :

Yes, or No -
Trucked overland in tanker trucks?
Do tankers carry other liquids?

Name of testing firm :

xxxxx

Online Purity Certification
Batch Number :

xxxxx

Date Bottled :

xx-xx-xx

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This Vaughns Fish Oil Benefits Summary
web page was last updated on 2019-05-02.